Scott McKenna has been a long term target for Celtic and reports from the Daily Mail in November did the rounds that the Hoops are set to reignite their interest in the upcoming transfer window after failing to land him in the summer.
We are now almost halfway through the January transfer window, and still, there seems to be no movement regarding McKenna. However, the Aberdeen boss still hasn’t ruled out any possibility and indicated that their star defender is there for the taking if a good offer comes their way.
Dereck McInnes was quoted as saying (The Scottish Sun),”I would be pretty sure there will be some activity about McKenna and some phone calls about him. I’ve already had a couple of inquiries, but nothing has materialised. With injured players coming back I think we can be stronger again in the second half of the season, and hopefully add to the squad too.”
”I want all my key players like McKenna especially, to be with us for the full season. Only money can change that. It’s up to other clubs to come in. Hopefully, nobody comes in, but it can change pretty quickly. If somebody’s in desperation and in need they will pay the money, so we’ll see. The ideal scenario would be if we had to sell McKenna in January we would get him back on loan, but that’s not something we’re actively trying to promote.”
Maybe the Aberdeen boss has given a blueprint to Celtic on how to approach for McKenna. There is no doubt that the Dons would want to keep him until the end of the season. However, Celtic can do a deal for him now and loan him back to Aberdeen for the rest of the season.
To be fair, something like that should suit Celtic quite well as it seems like they are going to keep hold of Dedryck Boyata until the end of his contract. Filip Benkovic is also set to stay until the end of his loan spell as Leicester manager Claude Puel gave a clear indication (Sky Sports) that he isn’t looking to recall the Croatian defender. With Kristoffer Ajer and Jozo Simunnovic also in the ranks, Celtic have decent backups as well.
However, Celtic needs to show urgency to get this move done now as Premier League club like Wolves are also interested (The Scottish Sun) in him. Given the rise the West Midlands club have seen in the last few years and the amount they have spent on players, we believe they can outmuscle Celtic in terms of money to land someone like McKenna.
Therefore Celtic would be better off trying to get McKenna’s signature this month to beat their competition and probably loan him back to Aberdeen which McInnes indicated.
